During the 2008–09 bobsleigh season, Russian pilot Aleksandr Zubkov finished atop the overall four-man and combined World Cup standings, having collected nine World Cup medals, three at Park City, Utah, and one at each other venue on the circuit. At the 2009 world championships, held in February in Lake Placid, N.Y., however, he finished fourth in both disciplines. Beat Hefti of Switzerland, with seven medals throughout the season, took the two-man title in overall World Cup standings and was second in combined standings, but, like Zubkov, he could not get on the podium at the world championships.

German bobsleigh pilot Sandra Kiriasis (right) and her brakewoman, Berit Wiacker, push off in the …

Arno Balzarini—Keystone/AP

The four-man win at the world championships went to American pilot Steven Holcomb. André Lange of Germany took silver, and Latvian Janis Minins secured the bronze. In the two-man event, Switzerland’s Ivo Rueegg and Germany’s Thomas Florschütz finished first and second, respectively, with Holcomb in third place.

On the women’s circuit, Sandra Kiriasis of Germany won her seventh straight overall World Cup title, having collected seven medals in eight World Cup races. Her only nonpodium finish was at the Olympic test event in Whistler, B.C. She also contributed to Germany’s world championship team title but fell to a disappointing seventh place in the two-woman event in Lake Placid. Fellow German Cathleen Martini finished second in the overall World Cup standings, followed by American Shauna Rohbock. The world championship gold medal went to British pilot Nicola Minichiello. Rohbock captured the silver, and Martini took the bronze.

Skeleton

Aleksandr Tretiakov of Russia showed consistency throughout the 2008–09 skeleton season and won the overall World Cup title. He earned five podium finishes during the World Cup season and finished third at the 2009 world championships in Lake Placid. Switzerland’s Gregor Stähli won the world championship gold medal. British slider Adam Pengilly took second place at the event, his only medal of the year.

In women’s action, Marion Trott of Germany finished atop the World Cup rankings, Shelley Rudman of Great Britain took second, and American Katie Uhlaender was third overall. Trott also earned the gold medal at the world championships, ahead of silver medalist Amy Williams of Great Britain and fellow German Kerstin Szymkowiak, who took the bronze.

Luge

At the luge world championships in Lake Placid, N.Y., in February 2009, American Erin Hamlin slid to gold, the first time since 1993 that a non-German slider had won the world crown. The silver and bronze medals went to Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger and Ukrainian Natalia Yakushenko, respectively. German slider Tatjana Hüfner again dominated the World Cup season, finishing in the top two in all nine races and first in the overall standings, ahead of Geisenberger and Anke Wischnewski of Germany. Hamlin, with six top-10 finishes, was sixth in the standings.

Italian Armin Zöggeler continued his men’s singles dominance, finishing in the top three spots in eight out of nine races and earning his eighth (and fourth straight) overall World Cup title. Zöggeler, however, was defeated for the world championship gold by German slider Felix Loch, who did not compete in the first three races of the 2008–09 season but came on strong at the end.

Germany, Italy, and Austria dominated the podium throughout the men’s doubles season, with Italy’s Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber earning the overall World Cup title. At the world championships, Italians Gerhard Plankensteiner and Oswald Haselrieder upset André Florschütz and Torsten Wustlich of Germany for the gold. Americans Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin finished with the bronze.